


BRWN

by dreamCauchemar



Category: RWBY
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fantastic Racism, For Want of a Nail, Friendship, Gen, Good Adam Taurus, I do not like comments, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kudos are fine but avoid commenting unless absolutely necessary, Lovers To Enemies, Minor Character Death, Not Beta Read, Please Do Not Comment, Team as Family, Work In Progress, ozpin slander
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-06-29 17:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19835086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamCauchemar/pseuds/dreamCauchemar
Summary: Every choice has consequences. If one is to change even the slightest of details, the story changes in more ways than could ever be imagined.This is the recording of how one woman's choice affected the lives of those around her, and how those lives, in turn, affected Remnant as a whole.(Kudos are fine, but I am not looking for comments of any kind. Just let me write in peace.)





	1. Found Families

"Raven."

"Summer."

The two women stared each other, neither drew their weapons. They were in the woods, with Grimm at every turn, it was better not to risk it.

Raven's eyes were fixed on the newborn wrapped in Summer's white cape. "I see Taiyang got over me quickly."

"Her name is Ruby," Summer replied. "She has my eyes."

"Oz must be pleased," said Raven. "My mistress won't be."

"I've come to talk about that, actually." She motioned to the bundle of white. "Do you believe she would take Ruby in?"

There was a pause. Raven raised an eyebrow. "Switching sides now, are we?"

"You were right, Rae," she said. "It's too late for me, but Ruby still has a chance."

"Won't the boys come after the tribe as soon as they find out we have Oz's backup silver-eyed warrior?"

"They won't know you took her," Summer insisted. "I can buy you time, feed them lies, sabotage them from the inside. All I ask is that you take care of her."

Raven sighed before taking the sleeping baby in her arms. "I suppose Yang will appreciate another child to play with. Am I right to assume her surname is Rose?"

"Don't curse her with my name, Rae," said Summer. "She deserves a name given to her by someone she loves, not a stranger she never knew."

"Ruby Branwen, then?"

"Yes, thank you. Be a better mother than I was."

With that, the silver-eyed warrior left.

***

Roman Torchwick believed he was a decent father. He paid a fat check in child support each month, sent gifts on all dates that require gift-giving, and made sure to stay away as to keep his enemies from doing something to the kid in order to get to him.

So, of course, when Raven told him that the tribe had spotted a nuckelavee near his daughter's village, he didn't hesitate to go there himself to make sure she was out of harm's way.

His little visit resulted in him discovering that his ex had kicked the girl out and was pocketing the money he sent for the kid. The other thing he learnt was that his daughter had been reduced to a beggar.

Well, he did try to keep her from following his footsteps, but it seemed being a criminal was her best option. So Roman left the village with Nora in tow.

The moment he got back home, Neo excitedly greeted her new little sister. He had had hesitations about taking in a street rat who tried to pickpocket him, but seeing Nora cracking her first smile since he found her made him sure that taking Neo in was the right choice.

***

There was enough money to eat. Emerald could cry in relief from the fact that she'd be able to afford a hot meal tonight.

"Excuse me, little lady," a voice came from behind her. "I believe you have something that belongs to my niece."

Emerald froze. She was in a dead end alley, there was no way to run. Still, if she could just use her semblance, she'd be fine. Yeah, just trick whoever was behind her into thinking they got the wrong person.

"I think you have the wrong person, ma'am." Emerald turned around with fake confidence. "As you can see, I don't have anything on my hands."

"That's a lie, you're holding the liens mom gave me!" said a younger voice.

Well, heck, there were two people. No problem, she could handle two. It would give her a headache, but that was worth her first decent meal in the past two weeks.

"Yeah! That's Yang's!" Oh, there was a third person.

Emerald sighed. There was no way she could use her semblance on three people at the same time without passing out. Guess it was goodbye to her hot meal.

"Look, I don't want a fight," she said as she extended the liens. "Here, just take it." 

Cinder remained silent. The girl's semblance was notable, she had been unable to see the liens that were now clear. The more she looked, the more Cinder could see the ratty clothes, the worn shoes, the dirty hair, the bones poking out beneath the skin, all signs of a child who was not being taken care of. Cinder used to be in a similar situation long ago, before Salem found her.

She shivered. She had almost... no, thinking about it only made it worse. Picking at mental wounds was never a good idea. She had Salem now, she had friends and family. No need to dwell in the past.

At any rate, there was a more pressing matter of the homeless girl getting increasingly more nervous since Yang took back her money, but Cinder had shown no signs of leaving, so Yang and Ruby waited in quiet confusion.

Cinder should really say something.

"You know, I've been looking for an apprentice." Cinder cringed internally at that one. Good going, ashes-for-brains, that sure did not sound suspicious at all. "How about we talk over lunch? My treat." Okay, baiting a starving child with food was a dick move, Cinder would admit that. Still, the girl had a useful semblance and Cinder was pretty sure Salem would not mind. Salem liked kids, her mother instincts were kind of dull but that was what Cinder and Raven were for. They could handle the child-rearing while Salem did whatever it is she did.

Emerald's stomach growled. She knew she was in no position to deny a meal. Beggars can't be choosers, after all.

"Yeah, that sounds good," she mumbled, hoping against all odds that this weird lady would not turn out to be a total creep.

***

"Hey, quick warning," Emerald whispered to Mercury. "My cousins can get a bit intense, so be on your guard."

"I can handle it," he whispered back, changing his posture to better ward off any foes.

"Hush, you two," Cinder interrupted. "We should make a good first impression."

The two nodded. Cinder smiled softly at them before opening the front doors and entering Salem's castle.

"NEW COUSIN!"

Mercury was never as thankful for his training as when he managed to catch Nora a nanosecond before she hit him with a tackle pounce. She looked absolutely ecstatic at his reflexes. 

"I _like_ you," she said with a grin before he put her down.

"Sorry about that, Nora's a hugger," a blond girl said. "Name's Yang. You're Mercury, right?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, welcome home, Merc," said Yang. "Hope you stay a while."

Mercury hoped living with them would be better than living with his father.

***

Once upon a time there was a heiress.

When the heiress was a child, she made friends with a servant boy. He was a few years older than her and rarely had time to play because of the many chores he had, but she was lonely and he indulged her. They promised to never tell anyone about their friendship, a servant and a heiress shouldn't be friends, he'd get a beating and she would lose her only friend.

One day, the heiress had an idea. If she were to show interest in dancing, she could ask her father to let the servant boy be her partner. They were close in age and he had yet to have a growth spurt that would make him too tall for her. It would also relieve him of some of his chores, as her father would want him to be in good condition to practice with the heiress.

And so, for many years, the servant and the heiress danced together.

As they danced and talked in hushed whispers, the heiress learned the truth of the servant. He lived in a farm before being stolen by a hunter and made into a slave. He dreamed of escaping from the heiress's father and becoming a hero who saves others like him. He dreamed of dancing with her, not as a slave and a master but as friends, to show the world that he was just as important as the heiress.

The heiress, in turn, told the servant about how she was bound by the will of her father. Her father said she had a big future ahead of her, but until then she was a doll meant to be paraded around and never speak her mind. She hoped to one day become a good huntress, one who did not steal and enslave others, and spend the rest of her life making it up to everyone her father had harmed.

The servant and the heiress made a pact to run away together. They would join the rebels, the heiress would leave behind her title and the servant would leave behind his chains. They would dedicate their lives to make things better for everyone.

And they did.


	2. First Day of School

"Are you sure about this?" asked Adam. "The White Fang has plenty of uses for our token human."

Weiss smiled. "Please, you know Blake and I will be much more useful once our training is complete."

"You got me there," he chuckled. "I'm kinda surprised about her going with you, to be honest."

"She does have a point, though, having two huntresses would help us greatly."

"I guess," he patted her head. "Promise you'll keep Blake in line."

"Fine." Weiss rolled her eyes. "And you better take care of Myrtenaster."

"Only if you do the same for Wilt and Blush."

They shared a laugh.

"I'm going to miss you, Adam," Weiss sighed.

Adam wrapped her in a hug. "You better text me every night or I'll break into Beacon to check on you."

A chuckle. "You wouldn't..."

"Don't underestimate me," he said. "We both know you're the damage control in this relationship."

"You need a girlfriend," she snorted. "Try and get yourself a date while I'm gone, okay?"

"I'll do my best." He ended the hug and offered her his hand. "How about one last dance before you leave?"

She took it without hesitation. "Lead away."

***

Ozpin looked at the names on the list of new students. More specifically, he was looking at the names of Ruby and Yang Branwen. Their personal files had cleared away any doubt about their identities.

Those were Taiyang's daughters.

Raven wasn't bold nor stupid enough to send both of them to Beacon without some sort of plan. The big question was what she was hoping to accomplish by doing so. A dare, a gamble, a trap, a distraction, the list of possibilities was endless. Ozpin was only sure of one thing: she wanted to get a reaction out of him.

He knew better than to act so soon with so little information. Informing either Taiyang or Qrow would only involve more people for him to keep track of, questioning the girls directly could result in them becoming hostile, losing him the opportunity of recruiting them to his side. His best course of action was to wait and observe. He would send some of his agents to make sure Raven was not using the opportunity to strike elsewhere.

Ozpin nodded to himself, and sent messages to all of the school staff to treat the new pair of Branwen siblings as normal students.

If he played his cards right, he could come out on top.

***

Once the airship landed on Beacon, Yang and Emerald went their separate ways from the group while Ruby and Neo remained close to each other. They had decided only four of them would go to Beacon as to avoid drawing too much attention, so Nora and Mercury opted to stay behind.

"So... should we head straight to orientation or should we try and make friends?" Ruby asked, tugging at her hood to make sure it covered her eyes.

Neo shrugged, leaving the choice up to Ruby.

"Huh." Ruby paused, looking to the left. "We should go there."

To the left of them, there was Blake and Weiss, who were arguing.

"What do you mean you didn't pack my sewing supplies?!" Weiss yelled.

"I thought you were going to bring Myrtenaster," replied Blake. "So I didn't see why bring your sewing kit too."

"You know very well Adam and I always trade weapons when we are sent on separated missions." 

"Can't we just buy more supplies?"

"With our budget?" Weiss flipped her brown hair. "Do you have any idea how much money it costs to have quality materials and supplies? Especially if we're starting from scratch?"

Blake opened her mouth to answer.

"Hey there!" Ruby popped up between the two of them. "Nice to meet you, are you guys new at Beacon, too?"

Blake closed her mouth and exchanged a glance with Weiss.

"We are in the middle of a conversation here," Weiss sighed, looking at the girl in the white hood. "What do you want?"

"Uh, get to know my classmate?" Ruby smiled nervously. "I also happened to overhear that you need sewing supplies. I can get you those if you want."

"And owe you a favor?" said Weiss. "No, thank you."

"What? No, I just thought you'd be happy to have new supplies." Ruby shook her head. "You don't need to repay me or anything."

"A charity case, then?" deadpanned Blake. "My hero."

"It's not charity, it's helping!" Ruby waved her arms. "Friends help each other!"

"We aren't friends," said Weiss.

"Well, we could be," replied Ruby.

Neo placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"But if we leave without solving the issue, she'll remain upset," Ruby complained.

Neo motioned to Blake and Weiss.

"I know, I know," she sighed. "But still..."

A steely glare from Neo shut down whatever argument Ruby had.

"Fine." Ruby then turned to the other two. "Sorry for interrupting, see you later."

"Well, that was weird," said Weiss.

***

Pyrrha had been in Beacon for less than an hour and she already had to give out autographs to several students and even some of the staff. She had found a relatively isolated bench to rest and accept the fact that she probably would not make any friend who didn't automatically put her on a pedestal because of her fame.

Was it too much to ask? To be treated like a normal girl for once? Apparently, yes.

"Hey there!"

Oh, great, Pyrrha couldn't even have a moment to indulge her sadness.

"Hi," said Pyrrha, because it was the polite thing to do.

"So, do you have any idea where the restroom is?" Yang asked. "I had way too much juice in the airship and now I really gotta go."

Okay, that was better than expected. This random person had shown no sign of knowing who Pyrrha was. Maybe her prayers had finally been answered.

"Uh, yes, of course." Pyrrha got up. "Here, follow me..."

"Yang," came the reply. "Yang Branwen. You?"

Pyrrha's heart skipped a beat at that. Yang didn't know who she was. That was her golden opportunity of having a normal friendship. Alright, she could do this, all she had to do was calm down her speeding heart and be herself. Easy... right?

"Pyrrha Nikos." Nailed it!

"Well, nice to meet ya, Pyrrha." Yang smiled.

"The feeling is mutual, Yang."

Was it getting hot in there? Why was Pyrrha blushing? Was she so starved for friendship that her emotions went completely overboard with the simplest gesture of neutral niceties that had nothing to do with her popularity? Wow, okay, that sounded pathetic, but she was desperate.

Wait, did Yang notice she was blushing and was too polite to point it out? Did Yang had any idea why Pyrrha was suddenly blushing after seeing her smile? Did Yang think Pyrrha had developed a crush at first sight? Did Pyrrha develop a crush at first sight? More importantly, did Yang even like her or was just being polite?

Pyrrha was pretty sure none of this would be happening if she was just a normal girl with a normal amount of socialization with her fellow youngsters, but instead she was cursed with social awkwardness and hopes of her first potential friend being chill enough about it not to dump her and leave her for others, less awkward and more normal friends. She didn't want to lose Yang even though they had literally just met.

Yang, who had to go to the restroom, decided that she really liked Pyrrha, who was both friendly and currently leading her to the restroom.

She hoped they'd get to be friends.

***

"... and that's pretty much how aura works," Emerald finished her very throughout explanation of aura, which will not be included here due to budget constrains. "Any other questions?"

Jaune, who had been sitting on the floor, taking notes on his notebook, and patting attention to everything Emerald was saying, raised his hand. "Uh, yeah, you mentioned semblances, can you go more into that?"

"Wow, you really are behind on your studies, huh?" Emerald sat down in front of him. "You know, I was pretty confused about that stuff too until my mom took me in as her apprentice. Maybe that could work for us?"

"Wait, really?" Jaune was surprised.

"Yeah, you help me around with some stuff and I help you catch up with the rest of the students," she said. "It's a win-win, right?"

"Sure! That sounds awesome!" Jaune nodded very excitedly, then stopped and added in a more serious tone, "Can you... not tell anyone about this, though? I'm kinda embarrassed of being so new to all this stuff."

"No problem, Jaune." Emerald grinned. "I feel this will be a very _prosperous_ partnership... as long as you do exactly as I say."

"I will! Promise!"

Emerald felt rather proud of getting someone to help around, that would make her life on Beacon much easier.

Jaune felt rather relieved of getting someone to teach him, that would make his life on Beacon much easier.


	3. Midnight Escapades

Their first night at Beacon was just a big sleepover. Ruby looked silly wearing her white hood over her pajamas, but no one had bothered her about it, so it was okay.

"How you doing, lil sis?" Yang asked. She wore long-sleeved pajamas and sweatpants. "We can sneak off to somewhere quieter if you want."

"It's fine," said Ruby. "Almost everyone is okay, I can do it."

"Good to know." Yang spotted a familiar redhead among the students. "Hey, Pyrrha, over here!"

Pyrrha's heart skipped two beats. Yang remembered her and was calling her over, that meant Yang liked her! And wanted her company! Yes! Excellent! Was it too early to call them friends? Maybe, but that was a step in the right direction.

"Hi, Yang." Pyrrha sat in front of the blond. "Glad to see you again."

"You too." Yang patted Ruby on the back. "This is Ruby, by the way, she's my sister."

"Hey," said Ruby. "Pyrrha, right?"

Oh no. Oh no. Oh nonononononono. This girl knew who she was, and was going to tell Yang, and then Yang was going to treat Pyrrha like an idol instead of a normal girl. This was an absolute nightmare.

"Yes." Pyrrha nodded, slightly trembling.

"Yang told me about you."

Three beats were skipped this time. Yang told others about her? What did she say? Good things? Bad things? Did she just say Pyrrha took her to the restroom? So many questions. But Yang found Normal Girl Pyrrha noteworthy enough to tell her sister, which meant she made an impression. A good one, hopefully.

"Uh, are you okay?" asked Ruby. "Your emotions are going haywire."

"Yes, sure," she said. "What did Yang tell you?"

Ruby looked at Yang, who nodded.

What did that mean? WHAT DID THAT MEAN? Was Ruby about to tell Pyrrha to leave her sister alone? List a series of insults about how awkward Pyrrha was? Make a heartfelt love confession on behalf of her sister? Pyrrha had no idea and she was terrified.

"Just that you showed her the restroom and that she hopes you become friends."

Pyrrha's soul ascended to cloud nine. Yang wanted to be her friend! Yang liked her enough to be her friend! Score one for Pyrrha Nikos! At least one person thought she was friend material for her personality instead of her reputation! The validation was so intense that Pyrrha's heart was beating faster than when she won a tournament for the first time.

Wait, she had to say something.

"That's nice, I also hope we become friends." Pyrrha smiled.

"Oh, we could be friends, too!" said Ruby. "That's twice the friends!"

At that point Pyrrha's entire face was redder than her hair. Two potential friends on the same day? Pyrrha was ecstatic. And if she made friends with Ruby, then it would also strengthen her friendship with Yang since they were sisters. Yang would surely appreciate having a friend who got along with her family, maybe she would even introduce Pyrrha to her parents! And Yang's parents would like Pyrrha so much that they would give their friendship their blessings! Pyrrha was good at impressing parents: she was polite, and smart, and athletic, and...

"Pyrrha, you okay?" asked Yang. "You're all red, do you need some fresh air? We can go outside if you want to."

Going outside with Yang? Just Yang and her stargazing and talking about their lives? And then Yang hesitantly holding Pyrrha's hand and giving her a shy smile? Yes, that sounded amazing!

"Ah, yes, I would love to go outside with you, Yang," said Pyrrha.

"Let's go, then," said Yang. "Ruby, can you stay alone until I get back?"

"Sure thing, sis."

***

"Maybe we should have taken that hooded girl on her offer," said Weiss, twirling a lock of brown hair between her fingers. "I'd be much more effective if I had my sewing supplies."

"Can't we just buy some thread and needles?" asked Blake. "Do you really need all that other stuff?"

"I suppose I could make do," Weiss sighed. "But it would affect the quality of the results, plus it'd end up using much more Dust than strictly necessary."

Blake looked down. She knew the best course of action was probably to accept the hooded girl's offer. The girl seemed honest enough, eager enough to give it to them, even if it was some sort of charity case. But that girl was... off. Blake couldn't quite put her finger on why, but being near that girl made her hair stand on edge and her instincts were tingling to go into fight or flight mode. There was also the smell, it was subtle but it was there. It would take decades for even the most dedicate of hunters to get that sort of lingering scent. That meant the girl was hiding something.

While Blake did not wish to spout conspiracy theories in a room full of humans, she needed to say something to Weiss.

As soon as Blake opened her mouth, Ruby showed up.

"Hello again," said Ruby. "I never did catch your names; mine is Ruby Branwen, pleased to meet you."

Blake sighed.

"Weiss Gelé," said Weiss. "And this is my acquaintance, Blake Belladonna."

"Weiss, Blake, got it." Ruby smiled. "Sorry about earlier, I get nervous when people are upset."

"It's alright," said Blake. "Where is the other girl?"

"Neo? She's in the bathroom, taking a bath," Ruby lied.

"Okay..." Blake did not fully believe the lie, but gave Ruby the benefit of the doubt. "Is there anything you want?"

"You two are still upset," said Ruby. "I want to make it better."

Weiss and Blake exchanged a glance. Blake nodded slowly and Weiss shot her a grateful look.

"Well... is your offer still available?" Weiss asked.

"About the sewing supplies? Sure." Ruby pulled out her scroll. "Just list whatever you want and I'll ask my uncle to get it."

"Anything?" Weiss began typing in a calm, collected manner.

"Yeah, don't worry about the price, either," answered Ruby. "As long as he can get everything from one store, he'll do it."

Weiss's eyes sparkled and her typing became frenetic as she listed everything she would need to sew to her full potential.

Ruby smiled, and then turned to Blake. "What about you?"

"I don't need anything."

The hooded girl tilted her head to the side. "Then why are you nervous?"

"Shouldn't I be nervous about a stranger showing up and offering a deal too good to be true?"

Ruby paused for a moment, thinking of her answer. "If we were to become friends, would you not be nervous anymore?"

"I guess."

Ruby nodded to herself.

***

"Uh, guys, shouldn't we be at the sleepover with everyone else?" Jaune asked as Emerald slammed her weapons repeatedly against his shield.

"They won't notice," Emerald said, pausing her flurry of attacks in order to do a two-leg sweep, knocking Jaune on the ground. "Neo asked Ruby to cover for us."

Neo gave them two thumbs-up and a huge smile.

"It's okay, then, I guess," Jaune said without making any attempt to get up. "Sorry I suck at this."

Emerald smiled and offered him a hand. "Hey, we all sucked at some point, you'll get it right eventually."

Jaune smiled back and took her hand, getting up. "So, ah, what's your diagnosis?"

"You're awful," Emerald said more cheerfully than necessary.

Neo offered two thumbs-down and a sad face.

"Here, copy me." Emerald took on a fighting stance.

"Like this?" Jaune tried to do the same stance.

"Bend your knees more," she said. "Also, your grip is all wrong. Neo, can you show him how it's done? My hands are full."

Neo took Jaune's sword, showing him how he should hold it before returning it to him. After makeing sure he was holding his sword properly, Neo nodded and distanced herself from the duo.

"Much better," said Emerald. "Now raise your shield. I'll be going for either your torso or your head, so you gotta be prepared to cover either of them."

Jaune did as he was told. "Is it at the right height?"

Emerald slashed at his face, Jaune managed to move his shield just in time to catch the blow.

"I'd say so." She smiled. "Now I'll show you some defense techniques. Since everyone here is tougher than you, you should focus on not getting hit too much until you up your swordsmanship."

"Makes sense to me."

***

Pyrrha was lying on the grass, stargazing with Yang. This was real and it was happening. She had even pinched herself to check if she was dreaming.

"Thanks for taking me here," said Pyrrha. "I feel much better."

"No problem, I do this for Ruby all the time," said Yang. "Whenever she gets overwhelmed, I just take her somewhere isolated and let her have a moment."

"Wouldn't that attract Grimm?" Pyrrha frowned.

"Yeah..." Yang looked downcast. "It would."

Pyrrha turned so that she facing Yang. "Yang, did something happen?"

"Once." Yang turned as well. "I... don't wanna talk about it."

Pyrrha held Yang's hand. "I understand."

"Thanks, Pyrrha." Yang smiled. "Enough about me, tell me about yourself."

Code red. This was no good. Pyrrha couldn't let Yang know that she was famous, she didn't want to lose whatever friendship she had with Yang. But she had to say something. Was there some part of her life that was not affected by her status and talent? How could she mention never having any meaningful relationship without sounding pathetic? Oh, this was hopeless.

"Oh, I'm not that interesting." Nailed it!

"Come on, just some random detail," said Yang. "I want to know more about you!"

"Y-you do...?" she stuttered.

"I do." Yang offered a gentle smile.

Pyrrha's poor heart skipped four whole beats. Nobody ever wanted to know about her. They wanted to know her training routine, her combat strategy, how she kept in shape, but the real her? Her personality, her interests, her habits, her thoughts? Yang was the first one to ever show interest in Pyrrha Nikos the normal girl, not Pyrrha Nikos the star athlete.

Oh dear, the friendship was too intense.

"I, uh, I... I like yellow?" Pyrrha stammered.

"Oh, like your armor?"

"Yes... or, uh, your hair..." Was that too forward?

Yang's smile widened. "Hey, no need to be so flustered. Blondes are pretty great."

"Do you... like blondes?"

"Blondes, brunettes, redheads, I like all hair colors."

And so their conversation went, until both of them ended up sleeping on the grass.

***

"Well, that is quite the list," said Roman, reading through the message Ruby had sent him. "Your new friend better be thankful."

"Heh, sorry about that," said Ruby via voice call. "But she was so upset and... you know..."

"I know," said Roman. "Don't worry, Ruby, I'll send Nora to deliver it in... about two days. I'll even buy it instead of stealing."

"Thanks, Uncle Roman, you're the best."

"Send my regards to the others," he said. "Goodnight, Ruby."

"Night, Roman."

He smiled at his scroll before calling his underlings. They had a job to do and they were going to do it right.


	4. Into the Woods

If this morning was any indication of how the semester would go, Glynda would need a very generous raise.

First, some boy had tried to pull down Ruby's hood, which caused her to scream bloody murder and throw the boy halfway across the main hall.

Soon after, Neo and Blake quickly switched radio stations between a report on White Fang activity and news on underground crime rings, with other students picking sides and starting a huge debate on what radio station they should listen for breakfast. The final decision was a music station playing songs from popular children's movies.

Thirdly, Yang and Pyrrha arrived from the outside with grass on their hair and their pajamas wet with morning dew. Pyrrha had been blushing furiously, which led many to believe she and Yang had done something dirty. Rumors spread like wildfire about Pyrrha's not-so-secret lover, making Pyrrha even more of a blushing mess while Yang seemed surprised that her new friend was already so popular.

After that, Weiss almost got into a fight against a human who made a derogatory comment towards faunus. It caused quite a commotion, inciting a few faunus students to join the fray and target the offending human with a merciless series of pranks that involved putting laxatives in the human's food, clogging the nearest toilets until they were unusable, and stalling the human's desperate attempts to find a proper toilet until there was an... _accident._

Meanwhile, there had been numerous reports of suspicious behavior around the school, which turned out to be Emerald and Jaune taking selfies on increasingly ridiculous locations, including: on top of a lamp post, hidden in the bushes, hanging upside down from a window, and inside Ozpin's office while he seemed completely unaware of the two students.

After all that, launching all of them into the forest felt much more satisfying than usual.

***

Jaune screamed all the way through his fall. He was going to die. There was no way he could survive this. He was a dead man and no one would miss him. This was his punishment for forging his documents. This was going to be the end of him.

And then he hit something that was definitely not the ground.

"Gotcha," said Yang, with a bright smile.

"Thanks," his voice cracked a bit. Jaune decided that Yang was the most awesome woman alive.

"Guess we're partners now." Yang put him down and extended her right hand. "Name's Yang Branwen, you?"

"Jaune Arc." Jaune shook her hand. "Thanks again, I thought I was gonna die."

"No one's dying on my watch," said Yang. "Come on, we gotta find the relics."

She left before Jaune could reply, so he followed her and hoped for the best.

***

Blake was not happy not happy with her new partner.

Ruby had not lowered her hood, but Blake knew the girl's eyes had locked with hers. It made her nervous, the way prey feels when staring at the eyes of a predator, like the only reason she was still standing was because Ruby had decided not to kill her. For now.

"Sorry," said Ruby, averting her gaze. "I'm making you upset again."

Blake examined the girl in front of her, trying to find the reason for her discomfort. Aside from the smell, there was nothing about Ruby that indicated danger. Her posture was eager and friendly, her hands were not moving in any suspicious way, and she had no visible wea...

"Ruby," said Blake. "Where's your weapon?"

Ruby was confused. "I don't have one?"

Well, that was unexpected. "You don't have one?"

"Not really, no."

Blake felt a mighty need to curse. What kind of huntress did not have a weapon? What did she expect to do if they encountered Grimm? Host a tea party? Why was Ruby here? Why did anyone allow her to come to Beacon?

"Uh, Blake?" said Ruby. "You're going to attract Grimm."

Great. She couldn't even complain in her own mind.

"Let them come."

***

Pyrrha was extremely unhappy with her new partner.

She had hoped she'd partner up with Yang or Ruby. Preferably Yang. But no, she ended up with some girl who was completely aware of her fame.

What was she even supposed to talk about? They hadn't spoken to each other ever since they introduced themselves. Pyrrha couldn't decide if the cold shoulder from her partner was better or worse than her fans asking a thousand questions.

Oh, why couldn't her partner be Yang?

Emerald had expected to partner up with one of her cousins, or Jaune at very least, instead she was stuck with a celebrity that probably had everything she wanted handed to her on a silver platter. Just her luck.

Well, at least Pyrrha was famous for combat prowess, so she could handle herself in a fight. Still, the girl had made no attempt to talk to Emerald after their introductions. Emerald was sure Pyrrha thought herself miles above her partner.

She hoped her cousins got better luck with partners than her.

***

Neo's umbrella had slowed her fall to a crawl, allowing Neo plenty of time to spot the ruins and land right in front of a relic.

As she picked up a tower-shaped one, she heard something from behind her. She turned in a snap, pointing her gun towards the newcomer.

"Well, it could be worse," Weiss sighed.

Neo lowered her gun and smiled.

***

Two king taijitus were feeling conflicted. They had seen the dangerous ones walking through the forest, but they had also seen trustworthy ones. Those were the ones that would not hunt them and their kind. The ones that wanted to end the war.

But they were with the dangerous ones that killed Grimm, trapped them, hurt them, murdered them when they offered help all those millennia ago. The ones that started the war.

So the taijitus wondered. Usually they would not hesitate to attack and kill the dangerous ones to protect the other Grimm, but with the trustworthy ones around they did not know what to do. Would the trustworthy ones turn against them? Would they help them? Maybe they were trying to convert the dangerous ones into trustworthy ones.

In the end, they decided that it was unwise to leave the dangerous ones unchecked. They would approach the trustworthy ones and see how they'd react. 

And so they slithered towards different directions.

The white taijitu went after Emerald and Pyrrha while the black taijitu went after Ruby and Blake.

***

"Did you hear something?" asked Pyrrha.

"I hear the sound of you shutting up," Emerald replied.

Pyrrha huffed, and trained her ears to find the sound again.

Of course she had heard the slithering noise, she knew there was a Grimm around. She just didn't want Pyrrha to fight it and turn the entire forest against them, so she used her semblance to keep Pyrrha from hearing or seeing the gigantic snake that was not-so-stealthily following them.

How would she get it to leave? Salem made sure no Grimm would attack her allies, but Pyrrha was at risk. If the athlete did anything stupid, the Grimm would not hesitate to attack. 

And then she heard the sound of metal on metal. 

"What are you doing?!" She turned to Pyrrha, who was holding her javelin and shield.

"If Grimm show up, I want to be prepared," said Pyrrha.

Emerald could see the taijitu getting ready to fight. Okay, she could still avoid conflict if she just got it to leave.

" _Go away! I'll keep her in line!_ " Emerald made the taijitu hallucinate her words. She got a headache from using her semblance on two different minds, but she could handle it. It hurt, but she could...

The Grimm got the message and left. She let out a sigh of relief and let go of Pyrrha's mind.

"Fine," she said. "Do whatever you want."

***

Blake stopped in her tracks. "Ruby, there's a Grimm."

Ruby felt a shiver up her spine. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Blake held Gambol Shroud, ready to strike. "Get ready to fight."

The black taijitu left its hiding spot and faced the two girls. Its fangs were bared, but it did not attack. It wanted to see if the dangerous one was tame enough not to put the other Grimm at risk.

Blake prepared to shoot it on the head.

"Wait," said Ruby in a firm voice. She put her hand on Blake's arm and pushed down, making Blake lower her guns. "It doesn't want to fight."

"It's a Grimm, it always wants to fight," Blake hissed, but obeyed.

The taijitu slowly lowered its head, poking Ruby with its snout with enough force to make her stumble back a bit, but it made no attempt to strike.

Blake could not believe what she was seeing. "What the...?"

Ruby placed a hand on the taijitu's snout and smiled at it. "See, told ya. It just wants to make sure we'll behave."

The taijitu turned its head to Blake, looking at her expectantly. She felt the need to raise her weapons and fight, but Ruby spoke before she could act.

"She's just nervous," Ruby told the Grimm. "Blake thinks you want to hurt us."

It offered a small nod of understanding and then left out of its own volition.

"Ruby," said Blake, staring at the girl in the white hood. "What just happened?"

"We made a friend," she answered.

Whatever that mean, it could not be anything good. What sort of person gets along with Grimm? Not someone to be trusted, that's for sure.

***

"... and then Saphron _finally_ asked Terra to marry her!" Jaune recounted the event with over-dramatic hand movements. "I swear, if I had to hear about Saph's love woes one more time, I was going to go down on one knee and propose to Terra on her behalf."

"Oh my gods," Yang was laughing. "But what about the banner?"

"Obviously I wasn't letting all my hard work go to waste," said Jaune. "We ended up using it for their wedding invitations. Apparently a picture of them holding a huge rainbow banner as wide as I am tall that reads 'We're enGAYged!!!!!!!!' is the perfect way to inform everyone that they were tying the knot."

"I mean, if my little sister made something like that, I'd totally go with it," said Yang. "Man, that pun is genius!"

"Thanks, I do try."

The white taijitu observed the duo from a safe distance, the trustworthy one seemed to approve of the dangerous one. Still, it never hurt to check. It made its presence known with a friendly hiss and approached them carefully.

Jaune grabbed Crocea Mors. Yang readied her gauntlets, knowing full well that Ozpin was watching her every move.

"Time to play!" Yang cackled, hoping her battle cry would hide the real intention of her words.

Play? Oh, the trustworthy one wanted to play fight! The taijitu understood, it could gauge how much damage the dangerous one could do without actually risk getting killed! What a brilliant plan!

It began with a tail swipe. Yang dodged with ease, but Jaune was caught and then flung over the trees, screaming all the way.

"Hey!" Yang complained.

The taijitu may have put a little too much force on that one, but it thought the dangerous one would have better reflexes than that.

"This is not over!" Yang yelled before running after Jaune.

Perhaps the trustworthy one wished to continue the play fight at a later date? That sounded reasonable, it was best to check if her frail human friend was okay.

The white taijitu left.

***

Sure, there were probably better ways to handle the black king taijitu that had appeared behind her and Weiss, but Neo was a woman of simple solutions, so she simply grabbed Weiss's hand and fled at full speed. They were near the exit anyway, so making a run for it would be easy to excuse.

As soon as it saw the two girls leaving the forest, the Grimm hissed a goodbye and went to find its other half.

***

Ozpin rewound the footage dozens of times. He had never seen Grimm behave so... peacefully. Even the one that picked a fight with Yang and Jaune made no attempt to chase after them.

Something was off.

Still, delaying the ceremony would lead to rumors. He could interrogate the duos after.

***

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Branwen, Weiss Gelé, Neo Politan. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you'll work together as... Team BRWN," Ozpin announced. "Lead by Blake Belladonna."

He had to be honest on this one. While the leader was usually chosen by how they behaved during combat, Blake was chosen only because she appeared to have the most common sense of the lot.  
  
"Yang Branwen, Emerald Sustrai, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you'll work together as... Team BEAN. Lead by Yang Branwen."

This caused several people to laugh. Yang included, who decided this was the best team name ever. Pyrrha was happy that Yang was happy. Emerald and Jaune, meanwhile, silently regretted picking the white knight pieces over literally any other piece.

Ozpin had spent hours trying to think for a name for those four. He went through hundreds of colors in hopes of finding something with their initials. In the end, the best match he could find was to use most of the team's surnames to form the word BEAN, which was close enough to the color-coded theme-naming he gave all teams, so that was what those four were getting, even if it was a silly name.


	5. Interrogations

The eight students stood outside the principal's office. They had been called before they had time to even set foot on their dorms.

"Team BRWN, please come inside."

As soon as they were inside and the door closed, the remaining students pressed their ears against the door to hear what was going on.

"Please, have a seat," said Ozpin.

They obeyed.

"Why have we been called here, sir?" asked Blake.

"Straight to the point, I see," Ozpin chuckled. "Well, you see, there was a strange occurrence at the Emerald Forest."

He handed them a scroll, on it a video of the black king taijitu peacefully interacting with them was shown, followed by Neo and Weiss fleeing from the same taijitu.

Weiss gasped at the footage. "Blake, what the...?"

"Oh..." said Blake. "That."

"Would you mind explaining what happened?" Ozpin asked. "I believe this is the first documented case of a Grimm acting in such a... friendly manner."

Ruby gulped. "They, ah, act like that back home."

"You're from Anima, correct?" said Ozpin.

"Mostly, yes," Ruby agreed. "But the tribe travels all over Mistral, sometimes even Vacuo."

"And the Grimm are peaceful in all those places?"

"They are with the tribe," said Ruby. "Mom says they used to be hostile, Yang and I were attacked once, when we were younger. I don't really remember it, though."

"Interesting." He clicked his tongue. "What about you, Miss Belladonna? You seemed surprised by this turn of events."

And in that moment, Blake had a choice. She could mention Ruby's scent, her lack of weapons as if she did not expect to fight, the way she could always tell when Blake was nervous, and how her very presence made Blake tense. It would be easy, maybe Ozpin would figure out what was wrong with the girl.

But Blake knew better than that. It didn't matter how well-behaved she was, it didn't matter that most White Fang protests where peaceful, it didn't matter what she did or said, all the humans saw where her cat ears and they took it as enough proof that Blake was up to no good, that she was a lowlife, that she was inferior to them.

So, instead of thinking of how Ruby made her feel, Blake thought about her actions. During their first meeting, Ruby offered to buy Weiss's sewing supplies, she didn't know why Weiss wanted the sewing supplies or how much it would cost, just that Weiss was upset and that giving her new supplies would help. Second meeting, Ruby apologized and let Weiss go wild on her shopping list because it made Weiss happy. During breakfast this morning, Ruby overreacted when a boy tried to pull down her hood, but Blake could not say she would not be equally upset if someone went for her bow. In the forest, Ruby apologized when she noticed she had upset Blake, later when the taijitu appeared Ruby was the one who diffused the situation. 

Ruby's action were odd, but not malicious. And while Blake would not trust Ruby so easily after seeing how friendly she was with Grimm, she would also not throw her under the bus.

"I was indeed surprised." Blake made her choice. "But I believe Ruby deserves the benefit of the doubt."

"Noted," said Ozpin. "Miss Politan, Miss Gelé, what are your opinions on this issue?"

Neo smiled at Ruby and offered Ozpin a thumbs-up.

"I'll take that as you approving of Miss Belladonna's judgement."

Weiss stayed silent for a moment. Blake had spoken in favor of Ruby, and Weiss herself was thankful for the girl buying her sewing supplies. She would admit that it was somewhat shocking to see Ruby's amity with the Grimm, however Weiss herself was shockingly friendly with faunus for a Schnee. Just because she did not understand a group, or because they were different, or there was some bad blood between them, it did not mean they were evil, she learned that lesson long ago. And if Ruby's tribe had found a way to make Grimm stop their violent rampages, then the best option for humanity and faunus alike was to explore this newfound possibility instead of shunning it for being unusual.

"If what she says is true, then peace with the Grimm can be achieved," Weiss began. "Ruby has much to teach us, we ought to take this opportunity to learn."

"So all of you are on Ruby's side?" Ozpin asked.

"Yes," said Blake. "I understand it is suspicious, but until evidence to the contrary is found, Ruby is innocent."

"I see. Now, let's move onto the next issue." Ozpin pointed at the video. "You fled from the Grimm instead of attacking it. May I ask why?"

Neo snapped her fingers to get his attention and began slowly speaking in sign language, hoping Ozpin could understand her.

"That will not be necessary, Miss Politan," said Ozpin after she was finished. "Although I'm sure your teammate will appreciate the sentiment."

"What did she say?" asked Weiss.

"That if someone was to blame, it should be her," said Ozpin. "You did nothing wrong."

"I... thank you, Neo," said Weiss. "But neither of us were wrong in fleeing from the Grimm."

"May I ask your reasoning?"

"Our mission was to retrieve the relic, which we did," she replied. "While you said there would be obstacles, you never specified how we should deal with them."

"Indeed, but you can't always flee from battles."

"You don't always have to fight them, either," said Ruby.

"Sometimes we don't have a choice," Ozpin said grimly. 

"Maybe," said Blake. "But this was not one of those times."

"You're right," said Ozpin. "You may leave, except you, Miss Branwen."

"M-me?"

"If it is not a problem, I'd like to ask you something in private."

Neo placed a hand on Ruby's left shoulder while Blake placed a hand on her right.

"We'll wait for you outside," said Blake.

"Thanks."

Three girls left. Ruby hugged herself.

"What do you want to ask?" Her voice was shaking.

"Miss Branwen, may I see your face?" said Ozpin. "I want to have this conversation looking you in the eyes."

A shiver went up her spine, but Ruby nodded and lowered her hood.

"Silver eyes, huh?" said Ozpin.

"Y-yeah," Ruby agreed weakly. "A-anything else?"

"Where did you get your white hood, Miss Branwen?"

Ruby nervously tugged at her cape. "Always, uh, always had it, s-sir."

Ozpin stared at her in silence. Ruby squirmed on her seat, but did not speak further.

"Thank you for your cooperation, you may go now," Ozpin finally spoke.

Ruby pulled her hood back up and left in a hurry.

Once she got outside, Neo let out a sigh of relief and hugged her.

"Team BEAN, please come inside," Ozpin announced before Yang had time to interact with her sister.

"Ready to go to sleep?" asked Blake, a soft smile on her face.

"Yeah."

On the way to their dorm, Blake tapped Ruby's shoulder and they slowed their pace until Neo and Weiss were at a reasonable distance ahead.

"I don't trust you yet," Blake whisper. "But that doesn't mean you don't deserve a chance."

Ruby smiled. "Thanks."

"Don't disappoint me."

And with that the conversation was over.

***

Ozpin looked at team BEAN as they took their seats. "Do you know why I called you here?"

"Uh... to make sure Jaune is okay after his rough landing?" said Yang.

"Not exactly."

"Wow, thanks for worrying," said Jaune.

"That's not what I meant..." Ozpin sighed. "Here."

He handed them a scroll. It showed the team's interactions with the white king taijitu.

"Yang, why did you cease confrontation with the Grimm after Jaune was thrown?" Ozpin asked once they finished the video.

"Well, to make sure my partner was alright," said Yang. "He could've gotten hurt, or landed near a pack of beowulf, or even died!"

"I did get a bloody nose," Jaune added.

"Yeah, and neither of us had handkerchiefs." Yang motioned to her usual garb of a brown turtleneck sweater and leggings, which is what she usually wore when she was not in her pajamas. "I mean, this outfit doesn't even have pockets! I have to store everything in bra wallets!"

"It was a disaster," Jaune said solemnly.

"If we may return to the matter at hand," said Ozpin. "Do you have any idea why the Grimm did not give chase?"

"Nope." Yang shrugged. Of course she knew, but it was better that Ozpin did not know that.

"Not a clue," Jaune added. It was sincere.

"It's rather difficult to understand its thought process," said Pyrrha.

"Weird," Emeral helpfully added.

"So none of you know anything?" Ozpin insisted.

"Pretty much," said Yang while the others agreed.

"Miss Branwen, according to your sister, the Branwen tribe has developed a peaceful relationship with the Grimm," Ozpin mentioned. "Do you believe there is a correlation?"

Nice try, pinhead, but Yang had her team on her side.

"With how little it is known about the creatures of Grimm, it's impossible to tell for sure," Pyrrha spoke. "However, older Grimm have been known not to attack humans on occasion. Perhaps this one decided it was not worthy it to chase after Yang and Jaune."

"But why would it do so?" Ozpin asked. "What reasons could it have?"

"Well, new students go through Emerald Forest each year, right?" said Jaune. "It probably thinks it's better to let a few students get away and wait for next year than risk it with the wrong hunter and get killed."

"This could explain the ones in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin conceded. "But not the ones that are at peace with the Branwen tribe."

"Whenever my tribe goes on a raid, it tends to attract Grimm," said Yang. "They've probably realized that letting us live would net them better results in the long run."

"I suppose that would solve those mysteries," Ozpin sighed. "Now, to the next issue... Miss Nikos, Miss Sustrai, how did you miss the Grimm following you?"

"I was... unsatisfied with my partner. You can see in the footage that I was unhappy with her." Emerald took a deep breath, she had to make her lie look convincing. "My anger distracted me and kept me from seeing the Grimm. I'm sorry." 

"Your anger should not influence your ability to complete a mission," said Ozpin. "Nor should it give the enemy an advantage."

"I understand, sir." Emerald lowered her head, mentally congratulating herself on telling a successful lie.

"What about you, Miss Nikos," he asked. "Where you also angry with your partner?"

"I... yes," Pyrrha confessed. "I should've known better, but my childishness got the better of me and put us in danger."

"Both of you will be on the same team for the rest of your stay at Beacon," said Ozpin. "How can expect you two to work together if you cannot put your personal feelings aside?"

"Professor, it is a team leader's duty to make sure the team reaches their full potential, not yours," Yang interrupted. "If you expect me to be their leader, stop trying to do my job for me."

"So you'll take responsibility if anything happens because they cannot see eye-to-eye?" Ozpin was serious.

"Yes."

"I see," said Ozpin. "Miss Branwen, I have a few more questions for you. The rest of your team can leave."

Yang had been told about Ozpin's arrogance and his love for secrets. He wanted to get her alone in hopes of getting her to spill something of use. He'd throw in the right key words to see if he got a reaction out of her, he'd corner her and gauge her loyalties, her knowledge, her weaknesses. He'd lie to reveal the truth, lie to get her on his side. Raven and Salem taught her better than to play his game.

Which is why Yang said, "I'd rather my team stayed if that's okay. If you believe there's something that would affect my ability to lead, my team should be aware of it."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. His goal was to get Yang alone and talk to her about Raven. If the other three were present, he'd have to tell all of them about what had happened years ago. He knew better than to give away his information, his advantage like that. Still, if he insisted on the others leaving in spite of Yang wanting them to stay, then that would cause suspicion and Yang could easily lie about what happened, turning her team against him.

"Very well," said Ozpin. "Miss Branwen, your sister mentioned you were once attacked by a creature of Grimm when you were younger."

Yang froze. "Yes... we were..."

"Do you recall any details?"

Yang looked down. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Please, you must understand it's—"

"She _said_ she doesn't want to talk about it," Pyrrha interrupted.

"Of course," he said. "Sorry for intruding. You're free to go."

As the students left, Ozpin review whatever scraps of information he had acquired.

At some point during the Branwen Sisters' childhood, the creatures of Grimm stopped attacking the tribe. The sisters were attacked by Grimm and survived, Yang refuses to talk about it. Perhaps Ruby's silver-eyes were activated?

Ruby and possibly Yang were capable of befriending Grimm. Grimm in general also appeared to behave less aggressively when the sisters were nearby.

Ruby's general behavior indicated a dislike for conflict, while Yang displayed a more aggressive and intimidating personality.

Team BRWN let Ruby answer for herself and took Ruby's side because there was not enough evidence to condemn her, while team BEAN actively argued in Yang's favor and took her side during the conversation.

If the Grimm stopped attacking the Branwen tribe as a whole, it was almost certain that Salem had instructed them not to. But the big question was: how much did the sisters know?

So far, Oz was still not sure. 


	6. Past Events

**_Years ago..._ **

Weiss and Adam buckled their seat belts. They were in the garage, inside an expensive car with their bags in the back seat. Weiss held Myrtenaster while Adam gripped the wheel.

"We're going to die, Adam."

"It'll be okay." He had no idea if it would be okay or not, but Weiss did not need to know that.

"I don't have enough aura for that."

"I trust you."

"But what if it goes wrong?"

"I can't do this without you, Weiss," he said. "Do you want me to remain a slave?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"Then trust me on this one, okay?" He smiled at her. "We can do it."

"I trust you," she sighed. "Lead away."

A click of a button and the garage door began opening, Adam slammed his foot on the accelerator. He headed towards the gates, paying no mind to the employees running and yelling. He had Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, on the passenger seat, he was untouchable.

Of course, the gates were closed and some bulky guards were there. Crashing against them would certainly destroy the car.

Adam kept going, waiting until he was a second away from crashing and ruining his escape to speak in a perfectly calm voice, "Weiss, wind."

Myrtenaster switched to white Dust. The glyph appeared under the car, launching it above the gates with a gust. The momentum was not lost, the car kept going forward after it launched, easily flying over the gates and landing outside the manor with a heavy bounce. Adam wasted no time getting the car to race across the streets, headed towards the city's border.

He gripped the wheel so tight that his knuckles were white, all to stop them from shaking. He wanted to cry, to show weakness and fear and doubt. But he had to be strong. Weiss was counting on him. He would save both of them, they'd be free and join the White Fang. He would make sure of that even if it killed him.

"Hey, Weiss," he said casually, sweating in concentration as he tried to maintain speed without crashing into another car or hitting a pedestrian. "Is it weird that I want to eat a burger?"

Weiss, who had her eyes closed and was trying to focus all of her aura into the next stunt Adam would pull, simply said, "Why are you bringing it up now?!"

"Well, I mean, I have bull horns, so isn't it kind of messed up?" Adam continued in his casual tone, checking the rear-view mirror to see how fast the cops and Schnee's employees were catching up to him. "Like, do pig faunus crave bacon? Can I eat venison in front of a deer faunus, or is it offensive? Are herbivore faunus vegetarian?"

"Adam, shut up!"

"I am having an identity crisis here, Weiss!" He waved one of his hands while the other remained at the wheel, they were almost at the wall, if he did not warn Weiss in time, their efforts would be for naught. "I am not emotionally prepared for the burden of my heritage! Also, we're near the border, so if you could lift us up again and then make sure we don't die, that'd be cool."

"We're WHAT?!" Weiss's eyes snapped open and she saw the fast-approaching wall that surrounded Atlas as to avoid people falling to their deaths.

The glyph appeared just in the nick of time.

And so the car and its two passengers began falling from Atlas, a city so extra it floated above all the lesser cities instead of being on the ground like everyone else.

Normal people would certainly die from the fall, and Adam was not sure if he and Weiss would survive, but he trusted her. If that trust was going to get him killed, then so be it. At least he'd die a free man.

Glyphs spawned under them, turning their free fall into an extremely bumpy downhill drive. Of course, spawning so many glyphs in quick succession was taxing on Weiss to the point where she would pass out any second into their daring escape.

Through all the shaking and promise of future backache, Adam kept his eyes fixed on the mountains below, clenching his teeth not to scream. Weiss was doing her best to break their fall, but Adam knew she would not last much longer.

He placed his hand above Weiss. "Come on, Weiss, almost there."

She gripped his hand and let out ragged breaths as her glyphs became more unstable.

They were almost on the ground, if Weiss could keep it up only a little bit longer, they'd be just fi...

Weiss passed out.

The car tumbled down the mountain. Adam screamed his lungs out while Weiss remained unconscious.

Miraculously enough, they survive with the car flipped the right way up. Adam had to stay calm now. Panicking would not help. Weiss was counting on him. He had to keep a level head.

Adam wiped the blood from his face and pawed at Weiss's pockets in search of her scroll. His whole body hurt so much, was something broken? He didn't have time to check, he needed to call for help before the Schnee troops showed up.

He looked at her contacts, smiling when he saw that she had added the White Fang's contact information from their website. His head hurt so much, and his breathing made hissing sounds.

He tapped the icon and the call began. He once again wiped the blood from his face. Was his head hurt? Probably, he _was_ bleeding.

"Hello, this is Ghira Belladonna, who is it?"

"Hey," Adam groaned, forcing his voice to remain even. "I'm an escaped faunus slave crashed on the mountains near Atlas, I'm pretty banged up and there's a bunch of humans out for my head. Can you guys pick me and my friend up?"

"Yes, sure, hold on," Ghira spoke. "There's a brotherhood nearby, they're sending someone right now."

"Thanks." Okay, he only had to wait. He and Weiss would be okay if he could just stay alive until help arrived. 

"Can you stay with me, buddy?"

"Sure," Adam panted, had breathing always been this difficult? "You're a faunus, right?"

"Yes."

"Cool, can I ask you a question?" He had to distract himself. If he managed to keep his head clear, then maybe he wouldn't pass out from the pain. If he stayed awake long enough, help would arrive and he and Weiss would be okay like he told her.

"Go ahead."

"Is it weird that I want to eat a burger since I have bull horns?" Adam asked.

***

**_More years ago..._ **

Ruby was crying. Her eyes were cursed. They were made to hurt, to harm, to kill. Salem told her, explained how she could destroy Grimm, how using it on Salem would bring her great pain, how not even Yang was safe from them. 

She didn't want her eyes. She wanted to scratch them out.

The Grimm at the Land of Darkness surrounded her, feeding on her emotions. They did not fear her, some would even rub themselves against her in an attempt to provide comfort. They trusted her in spite of her silver eyes.

Salem had told Ruby that silver eyes were a gift from the God of Light. They were meant to be weapons for his soldiers to use in the war against his brother. The God of Darkness gave different gifts, gifts that had to be sought and demanded trust.

Ruby never saw a God, not that she knew of. But the Gods were still in Remnant, Salem had told her so. They had hidden themselves in bodies of skin and became players on their game of war.

And Ruby wondered if the God of Darkness would hear her prayer and take away her eyes.

She looked at the pools of Grimm.

***

**_Even more years ago..._ **

There were Grimm. Of course there were Grimm. Ruby was crying her silver eyes out, that was bound to attract them.

Yang was scared, she held Ruby tight as three ursai approached them. An older tribeswoman who had accompanied them was shaking from head to toe, but she valiantly stepped in front of the sisters and took on a fighting stance, holding her metal bat weapon as best as she could. Yang knew this tribeswoman was not a particularly good fighter, she'd need help.

"Yang," the tribeswoman said, her voice trembling, a gale began blowing through them. "Take Ruby and run."

"But you need help," argued Yang.

"Fetch Raven." She briefly looked over her shoulder to smile at the children. "I can hold on until then."

They both knew she couldn't. 

"Thank you," the child said and ran.

Yang looked back once. Only once. When the tribeswoman and ursai were almost too distant to make out. Yang saw the woman jump and raise her bat, aiming to strike an ursa's skull. Yang saw the sunlight reflecting on the ursa's claws as it moved towards the woman. Yang saw the moment when the bat hit the side of the ursa's head, freezing it before breaking it in an explosion of icicles. Yang saw the claws slashing across the woman's neck, sending her head flying. It all happened in a matter of seconds, too fast to react.

Yang wanted to scream, to cry, to pause and process what she just saw. But the gale pushed her forward one last time before it died out and she knew better than to stay in place and attract more Grimm.

She and Ruby made it to the tribe safely.

***

**_Many more years ago..._ **

A child stood outside the orphanage where she lived. Her breath was ragged and she held onto a Dust crystal she had stolen a few days ago. Her plan was to light the orphanage on fire and burn down everyone inside. She could do it, she had tested her semblance combined with the crystal and it had worked. She could do it. She could do it. She could do it.

She had to do it.

She could still feel their hands on her throat, choking her as she begged for mercy. Their teeth on her neck, biting until she bled. Their smiles as they did unspeakable things to her without mercy or hesitation.

The fact that she was not their only victim.

It was mercy, it was revenge, it was retribution. The ones who brought harm, the ones who allowed it and looked the other way, the ones who called her a liar when she cried for help. All of them must burn for what they did to her and all the other children that came to them in hopes of finding a home.

As for the children, the innocent ones, the tainted ones, the victims. They did not deserve to suffer. She had seen the scars on their arms from when blades and nails met skin and tore it apart trying to remove anything their abusers had touched, the bruised knuckles from punching the walls when they could not punch their abusers, the wounds from punching and burning and cutting their own bodies because self-inflicted pain was still better than the one forced upon them.

They did not deserve to suffer, but they could not escape the scars. It was a wound that would never fully heal, always waiting for another chance to bleed open. They would hurt for as long as they lived. They were not strong enough to bear this burden, they had given up instead of fighting back, they were not like her.

She would put them out of their misery. She would destroy everything until no one remembered what she went through. She would carry the weight of her sins and the sins thrust on her by her abusers. She would be strong. She would survive.

She would burn this place to the ground.

"Hello, little one."

The child jumped and turned to face the pale woman with black and red eyes.

"W-who are you?"

"I am Salem," the woman replied. "I'm sorry I could not come sooner, it's rather difficult to go out with my appearance."

The child took a step back. "What do you mean?"

"The Grimm told me of this place," she explained. "But they never managed to get in, too many hunters around these parts."

The child did not trust this woman. But she would not call for help and alert the orphanage, she would not return to that hell. She was afraid of Salem, but she'd rather face her than go back now.

"Do you plan on burning this place?"

The child nodded, no point in lying.

"Can I convince you not to?"

She shook her head.

"I understand, I can feel the negative emotions coming from you and this place," said Salem. "But there are people inside who do not deserve to die."

"They're broken," the child spoke without thinking. "Even if they leave, they won't stop being broken. They'll die either way."

"So you'll take the choice away from them."

The child blinked. "I... don't..."

"I am sure many will be unable to live with what they've endured, but there are others who will push through it if given the chance to rest and recover." Salem touched the wall of the orphanage. "I won't stop you from killing the adults who desecrated this haven, but let me save the children who wish to live."

"Okay," the child whispered, words felt like tar in her throat. "But do it quickly."

"Thank you." Salem bowed to the child. "What is your name, little one?"

"I don't have a name," said the child. "The man who left me here gave me his name, but I don't want it. It's a bad name."

"Then what should I call you?"

"I... I don't know..."

Salem nodded. "I'll remove the children. Stay here."

Once all the children were safely outside, most hopeful and excited to see the place of their suffering destroyed, Salem gave the child permission to burn down the orphanage.

It turned into ashes, the children cheered as their abusers died and the building crumbled on itself.

The wind blew the cinders, letting them fall on the children who were near enough. It was the most beautiful thing the child had ever seen.

Salem touched her shoulder. "I have called the firefighters, they should be here soon to take you somewhere better."

And in that moment, the child made two choices that would change her life.

"I don't go to another orphanage, I want to go with you," said the child.

"Are you sure? Following me is a path of war, you'll make many enemies if you choose this."

"I'm strong enough to take it. I bet they're nothing compared to the orphanage!" the child insisted. "I want to burn everything that ever hurt me, so let me come with you and I'll burn all that have hurt you, too."

"That's a very tempting offer," Salem giggled. "Alright, you may come, but I need something to call you."

"Call me Cinder," the child said, grinning as her new namesake fell around them. "Cinder Fall."


End file.
